Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cat Dobecki. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Cat Dobecki, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

In the 7 years that I have been doing this, I’ve had the opportunity to see styles and trends change. Its interesting to see what style connects with current generations and become popular again. I love the fact that natural wood is coming back into homes. Its a timeless look and offers so much warmth to a space.

Lately more designers are making intentional choices to find more curated goods for their homes versus mass produced style. A space filled with original art, antique furniture, vintage mirrors and décor adds so much dimension to a space. This movement is at the core of why I do what I do. Regardless of your style, find pieces that tell a story.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I used to have a corporate job. It paid good money and made me miserable. I put 13 years into a company that left me stressed out and unhappy with life. I eventually reached a point in life that I needed to make a choice between financial security or happiness. I picked happiness and quit.

I took a year to rebuild my life and started selling vintage at a small antique mall. It brought me creative freedom and joy. From there I spent a few years selling and growing this new hobby into something bigger. I started doing markets and eventually grew into bigger space at the antique mall.

Since then I’ve grown this brand to a point that we do markets all over the Midwest. We have connected with so many other incredibly talented vintage vendors over the years. It helps to be part of the vintage community, and have that support.

I now have a shop space in 2 stores along with doing markets. After so many years of learning and growing this business, we are finally opening our own brick and mortar this November. It’s an exciting and terrifying step in our growth plan, but I feel like its the right move.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think the number one thing in supporting yourself in this industry is confidence.

Its so easy to have a bad market, bad month or bad experience and fall into the mindset, that’s its you. You can lose confidence very quickly in what your doing and it holds you back from going forward.

Everyone doing vintage markets has had a bad market or month. Its completely normal and part of the industry. Instead of internalizing the thoughts that you are a failure, you have to look deeper into the why. Often its operational choices like pricing structure, style, merchandising or advertising.

I’ve had many experiences that make me question what I’m doing. My advice in these times, is to reach out to someone else in your industry. Many times I have felt a lack of confidence in what I am doing. When I connect with someone else who is going thru the same thing, it helps me realize that its not just me.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When you first start in the antique business, its hard to know what is the right style for you. When I started, I had no idea what I was doing and just copied everyone’s style. I thought if I did what they did, I would be “on trend” I spent a few years trying to do what was popular instead of what I really liked.

I think this part is a normal response to being new in a industry and learning to develop your own style. I eventually stopped buying what was main stream popular. I started looking at pieces that had character, charm and story. I decided that if I wouldn’t put it in my own home, it wasn’t a piece to buy. After a while, I had customers saying ” I love your style”. This felt strange to hear, but helped reinforce the idea that I don’t need to follow a style that wasn’t authentic to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.homestoryvintage.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/homestory.vintage
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/homestoryvintagellc